This has always been always been one of my favourite films and with its central theme of undeserved celebrity, seems even more relevant in today's world of reality TV stars and overnight fame. The difference here is that the object of everyone's affection, the hapless Woodrow Truesmith (there's irony in his name) doesn't want the spotlight accidentally diverted onto him by the six penniless but well-meaning serving fellow-marines for whom he buys a drink in a bar. Although signed up for service in the marines himself, Truesmith has been medically discharged for a year because of chronic hay fever and to finally return home, has at last got up the courage to admit it to his adored mother, herself the widow of a marine hero, Truesmith's dad of course. Not wishing to have him hurt his mum's feelings, the marines phone ahead, fabricating Woodrow's background story of heroism, which promptly catches fire in his native town and sees him lauded to the skies on arrival in his hometown. Reluctant to play along right from the start, things quickly snowball out of control for Woodrow as the town promptly fawns over him, pays off his mum's mortgage and even puts him up for mayor against the long-standing, self-important and bumptious Everett Noble, but even when Truesmith's secret inevitably comes out there are still a few surprises in store before the end.There's no great secret behind the wonderful series of films Preston Sturges produced in the early to mid 40's, it's all there in the writing. The dialogue is crisp, funny and pithy, the sharp exchanges between characters requiring expert timing and intelligent direction. It gets both and then some, the cast young and old, getting nary a line to waste and never wasting a word. With the machine-gun delivery, any slackers would be found out and there just aren't any. By the time we get to the surprise ending when Truesmith's native honesty and humility change the expected run of events, there's still time for Sturges to insert some front-line truth, one of the marines telling Woodrow that he's lucky to only have the one battlefield nightmare compared to the many who have them constantly and even finish with a war-time rallying point as the marines finally leave town to return to duty, their well-meant meddling all repaired at last.None of the stars Sturges employs are household-name, but by dint of many of them forming part of his regular troupe, their interplay is a delight to watch, as is the director's skill with crowd-scenes. Eddie Bracken with his expressive face and honest disposition is great as the accidental hero, Truesmith while Ella Gaines also does well as his love interest, while the interplay between the blowhard elder Noble and his slow-witted, drone-voiced son is hilarious. That said, there's no face out of place here, everyone acts with such naturalness, quirks and all, that like with Capra, you're convinced you're the extra visitor in a real-life town.Sturges was considered the "wunderkind" of Hollywood around this time and this sparkling satire shows him at his considerable best.

This widely hailed classic, generally regarded as Preston Sturges' best (and thought to have lost the 1944 Oscar for best Screenplay mainly because writer/director Sturges had to compete against himself and his own Miracle At Morgan's Creek), is one of those rare films that actually get better with repeat viewings.We first meet Woodrow Lafayette Pershing Truesmith (Eddie Bracken) sitting alone and depressed at the end of a nightclub bar near the defense plant where he has been patriotically working since being discharged from the Marines for "chronic hay fever" shortly after enlisting to be like his Marine father (who won a Congressional Medal of Honor, falling at WWI's battle of Bella Wood on the day Woody was born). We see him, in what appears to be a regular practice, buying drinks and food for a group of six Marines, led by William Demarest in the role of his long life.The grateful Marines get Woody's story out of him - that he could not face going home following what he viewed as his "disgrace," and wrote his mother (letters mailed by soldiers shipped abroad) that he WAS serving over seas, and released his girlfriend who he was sure wouldn't want someone who couldn't serve. Freddy Steele's "Bugsy," raised in an orphanage, is so outraged that Woody would cut himself off from the Mother he didn't have, that he calls Woody's Mother, telling her that her son's been discharged following recovery from wounds and is coming home - starting the "little lie" that rapidly snowballs in comic complications.All six Marines (after first setting up the core situation by forcing their own uniforms and medals on Woody on the train home to pull off the charade for his mother) are such solid, grounding presences throughout the film packed with Sturges' regular team of character players from Ray Walburn as the opportunistic more than corrupt small town mayor to Franklyn Pangborn as the general factotum, that it is almost criminal that only a couple of them are credited by name. The film's chief leap of faith is that any Marine would violate regulations as to the wearing of uniforms and medals not earned - but Sturges the screenwriter bridges this gap neatly between Woody passionately struggling NOT to be caught up in the charade and the soldiers themselves becoming trapped in it.In the end, in a film not remembered for its subtlety, Sturges' actual subtlety nearly works against him by neither making his justifications as up front and memorable nor his "bad guys" as deeply villainous as, say, a Frank Capra might have, but the warmth and essential nobility of the true "hero" shine through and make this something of value far beyond the time it was made for.In 1961, the tale came a-cropper in a noble attempt to turn it into a Broadway musical with a book by Larry Gelbart (M*A*S*H), a score by Moose (Peter Pan) Charlap & Norman Gimbel and direction and choreography by the great Bob Fosse (who was fired on the road in a dispute over his choreography!). The timing was off more than the content - half a decade later, once the Vietnam conflict had heated up and was still perceived as a noble effort (we were never told at the time that the war was to prop up a government which refused to participate in UN supervised popular elections when the French withdrew from their former colony because the nationalist general who led the drive for freedom - their George Washington - was sure to win), things might have been different. The demo recordings which survive are nice enough - but thanks to TCM and home video, the real deal is available and one of the best.This is not a pro or anti-war film, it is simply a film set in wartime (and excellently capturing the home front of that time) which quite beautifully looks at the nature of quiet heroism. If you've never seen it, you should - if you have, it's worth another look. It's probably even better than you remember.

It is the middle of World War II and American towns are gripped by patriotic fervor. In Preston Sturgis's "The Miracle of Morgan's Creek," which appeared the same year as this, Betty Hutton was what was called "a Victory girl" who gave a departing serviceman a good-bye present that left unanticipated consequences. In Sturgis's "Hail the Conquering Hero," small-town nobody Eddie Bracken is quickly discharged from the U. S. Marine Corps because he has hay fever. Ashamed to go home, he gets a job in the city and writes letter to his Mom bragging about the battles he's been in. After all, Mom has already lost family members in combat and doesn't need a disappointment.Finally he decides to visit home. He buys a uniform and campaign ribbons to make his epistolary lies more believable. But on the train he runs into half a dozen tough Marines who have been on Guadalcanal. They're led by William Demarest. Taking pity of Bracken's mother, they get him in shape and escort him to his house.He's unexpectedly welcomed as a brave warrior. Bands play, crowds cheer, his beautiful girl friend (Ella Raines) begins to glow with a renewed admiration. His mother sobs with relief and pride. The townsmen plan to put up a statue. A parade marches down the street.Bracken is overwhelmed, having thought he'd slip in and out, but his Marine buddies prop him up and tell Homeric tales of his bravery. The town pays off his mother's mortgage and supports him for Mayor against a hilarious and corrupt blow hard. Some of the funniest moments involve Al Bridge trying to make a public statement or dictate a letter and being constantly interrupted.Frank Capra made a number of movies in a similar vein -- the gullibility of the public when faced with a phony or with big-time crookedness -- but there was always a sentimental climax in which honesty was finally rewarded. Honesty is rewarded here, too, but in a rough-house, grab-ass, ironic way. Nobody will weep when Woodrow Lafayette Pershing Truesmith makes his confession.Eddie Bracken is good at this sort of thing -- stuttering, shaking with fear, being shoved around by a horde of admirers, tearing his hair out with shame. Ella Raines is so conventionally beautiful that she's reason enough to stay home. The Marines are up to snuff. In fact, one of the more moving moments is when Bracken has developed a scheme to wiggle out of town and desert his adoring mother. One of the men loses his temper, Bracken hysterically socks him, and the Marine wipes his mouth and says contemptuously, "Go hurt a girl. That's all you're good for." The fact that the Marine can't act makes the scene more touching.The director came and went through Hollywood like a rocket. His career last for some years but he never equaled his output over a brief period in the early forties. Too bad. This is pretty good.

...and this is easily among his finest (and funniest) of his earthly works. Eddie Bracken manages to be hilarious and heartbreakingly lovable -- just as he was in "Miracle of Morgan's Creek." The entire ensemble of Sturges stalwarts -- people like the immortal Raymond Walburn and William Demarest -- are at the absolute top of their game.With crackling dialogue, finely drawn characters and a pell-mell plot, "Hail the Conquering Hero" is proof positive that comedy can be great art. More than six decades after it was made, it feels funnier and fresher than any comedy you're likely to see today. This comedy is an unstoppable snowball, gaining size and momentum as it barrels down a mountainside. See it, and then seek out Sturges's other masterworks.